DFA given 5 days to wrap up passport probe

MANILA, Philippines — The National Privacy Commission (NPC) has given the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) five days to wrap up its investigation into the passport mess.

Speaking to reporters, NPC commissioner Raymund Liboro said yesterday’s initial meeting was brief but productive.

“The NPC’s investigation continues. In their own preliminary probe, the DFA said it is in control of the data. That says a lot already to assuage the public. The data in question is not controlled by any unauthorized parties. That was what today’s meeting with the DFA established. The data is under their safekeeping,” Liboro said.

Liboro added that he looked forward to next Monday’s fact-finding meeting, which will include representatives from both the DFA and Asia Productivity Organization (APO).

“The lessons we could learn from this incident would go a long way in ensuring better government practices. They would form part of the recommendations the NPC shall later issue to government offices contracting third parties,” he said.

Liboro added that the NPC was looking for ways to further protect personal data.

“The law obliges data controllers like the DFA to strictly implement contractual means to protect data when they deal with third parties and government contractors. We look forward to improving on that based on lessons we learn here,” Liboro said.

In the letter-request sent to NPC Tuesday afternoon, DFA’s data protection officer Menardo Macaraig said the department’s “preliminary inquiries on the matter indicate that there was no data breach because the APO protection unit, a government-owned and controlled corporation and recognized government printer, remain in custody and control of said data.”

Macaraig added that the data have not been shared with or accessed by an unauthorized third party, which may use it for illicit purposes.  

The DFA had requested the NPC for 10 more days to provide information on the incident.

The NPC, in a letter dated Jan. 14, invited Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. or the data protection officer of the DFA to a meeting yesterday morning.

“We went there to convey DFA’s request for a postponement. They gave us five days. The meeting will be Monday morning,” DFA office of legal affairs director Anthony Mandap told The STAR.

As this developed, Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo yesterday rejected the call of leftist lawmakers for the House of Representatives to investigate the passport incident in the DFA.

“Investigations are not the job of the House – inquiries but not investigations. And inquiries have to be in aid of legislation and in reality, what legislation can we introduce in a few months?” she told reporters.

Arroyo said she was leaving the matter to Camiguin Rep. Xavier Jesus Romualdo, who chairs the committee on good government and public accountability.

Meanwhile, the recruitment and migration sectors lauded the DFA order removing the requirement of birth certificate for passport renewal.

According to Emmanuel Geslani, who has served overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) for 35 years, they do not bring original copies of their birth certificate.

Geslani agreed with Locsin that requiring birth certificates for passport renewal was an additional burden, adding that the old passport is sufficient evidence of a person’s citizenship.

The Consular Affairs Office recently started issuing 10-year-validity passports but there are thousands of OFWs who still hold five-year-validity passports. – With Pia Lee-Brago, Jess Diaz, Rudy Santos